Waters Luminous & Deep

by Meredith Ann Pierce

Meredith Ann Pierce’s acclaimed novels are the proof of a remarkable imagination. Here is more proof—eight shorter works of fiction, each with a strong heroine, a tangibly imagined world, and unforgettable imagery. Included here are the text to her only picture book, “Where the Wild Geese Go”; the tale that showed a teenaged Meredith that she was, indeed, a writer (“In Quest of the Icerose”); and a powerful novella originally commissioned by SFWA Grandmaster Andre Norton (“Rampion”). Waters Luminous and Deep encapsulates the evolution of one writer’s unmistakable style, and has all of the power of her longer work.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Young Adult, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Anthologies, High Fantasy

311 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2004

About the author

Meredith Ann Pierce is a fantasy writer and librarian. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and yet overturn standard expectations, frequently featuring young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being respected for their efforts until the end of the story.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this collection hella slowly, reading a story here and a story there in stolen moments over several months.

I've come to understand that disappointment is the only emotion a short story collection from a beloved novelist can elicit form me. A novel is a big, juicy, satisfying meal, and a short story collection is (at best) an amuse bouche. Even when it's good, it leaves me hungry. (And at its worst, it's a pile of barely-edible kitchen scraps. I'm looking at you, George R. R. Martin's publisher. Dreamsongs was a massive two-volume collection of immature prewriting exercises that never should've seen the light of day.)

I adore Meredith Ann Pierce. She is such a talented world builder. I feel like she has access to a bottomless store of culture lore for, like, a thousand fucking worlds bouncing around in her hand. And she's just waiting for someone to express an interest. The short stories in Waters Luminous and Deep were full of flashes of that incredible talent. I wanted more time in each of them.

Pierce's beautiful language was on full display. Her willingness to break words apart to suit her needs is, as always, a delight. And my vocabulary always expands while reading her work. After reading some pretty hack-y young adult books recently, it was nice to read something designed to challenge readers.

I think my favorite was "Rampion." The often-adoring, sometimes-bitter friendship between the two female characters reminded me of the relationships between both Eoduin and Aerial and Erin and Aeriel. No recipe for friendship fascinates me more than the mixture of genuine devotion, envy, and a steep power imbalance. I have no idea what the timeline of these short stories was, but I see either echoes or stirrings of the Darkangel trilogy in that story in particular. I also loved The Frogskin Slippers for the unabashed fairy tale homage it was.

These are delightful, but mostly I just want her to be the author of thirty more novels. Le sigh...

[Ashlee Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique, sweet, and sometimes sad collection of tales. While I enjoyed reading them, they unfortunately did not compare to the author's book, my favorite: Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood. Still would recommend these stories to anyone who likes gently-told, new-old fairy tales.

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how to rate this collection. As a study in the evolution of a writer, it's an interesting exercise--I don't know many authors who would be willing to release stories they wrote in their teens. So do I rate "Icerose" (by Pierce, c. age 17) and "Rafiddilee" (by Pierce, c. age 14) on quality or historic interest? The politest thing I can say about them on the first point is that they're very good juvenilia. I enjoyed seeing the hints of the writer Pierce would one day become--there's some startlingly vivid imagery in both--but I can't say I thought they were terribly well-constructed stories.

As to the others, I found "The Fall of Ys" overly preachy and "Where the Wild Geese Go" vivid but rambling (true to its fairy tale roots, I guess). "The Sea Hag" mostly bored me, but "The Frogskin Slippers" was sweet if a little slight. And I quite enjoyed "Rampion," although I'm curious what changes were made from the original Witch World anthology it ran in.

Overall: enjoyable, but forgettable.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a marvelous collection of shorter works by a writer who is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. The title is nicely evocative, as all of the stories have to do with water (or ice or snow) in some way, and "luminous" is an excellent description of Pierce's beautifully clear and expressive writing. The stories range in length from just a few pages to novella-length, and in tone from the utterly charming "The Frogskin Slippers", a witty take on the fairy tale of "The Frog Prince", to the more serious "Rampion", a novella of two half-sisters, their lives on an isolated island, and the very different ways in which they rebel against their unscrupulous father. I find Pierce's longer fiction even more engrossing, but these shorter pieces still show off her wonderful imagery, strong heroines, and lovely writing.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of short stories, though I haven't read any of Pierce's novels. My favorites are: The Fall of Ys (which reminded me of something Marion Zimmer Bradley would have written), Where the Wild Geese Go (which reminded me of East by Edith Pattou, one of my favorite books), and Rampion. The other stories where good as well, and she experiments with different styles and genres (within fantasy) which is also interesting and admirable.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored the Firebringer and Darkangel series as a kid, so I was excited to find this more recent short story collection. Unfortunately, it didn't quite capture my imagination like her previous stories. The stories are an interesting insight into her development as a writer. The collection contains stories written when she was 14 and 17 years old, and to be fair, they read like what you'd expect from a talented writer at that age. The more contemporary stories are obviously those of a more mature writer. Everything is well written here, but none of the stories stayed with me after I put the book down.

[Gloriamarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an astonishing assortment of short stories written at various times in the author's life. One of hem she wrote at fourteen and when she was finished she says she knew she was a writer. I should say so. I have read stuff written by people who have been writing for decades and didn't ever write anything as good as "Rafiddle." Another, "Icerose", written when she was seventeen came to her as an inspiration. I can see why.

Brilliant writing seems to know how to develop characters without trying, all my senses were engaged. So happy happy to have discovered this brilliant author,

[Etola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seriously lovely book I picked up by chance in the library. The writing is lyrical and the stories nicely varied. There are a few rough patches (some of the writing is older material), but overall I'm really glad I picked it up.

Favorite stories were "Rampion," "Icerose" and "Where the Wild Geese Go."

[K. A. Botello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked "Rampion", which has nothing to do with Rapunzel, and "Rafiddilee" because it was a take on Oscar Wilde's" The Birthday of the Infantana". "The Frogskin Slippers" was a colorful twist on a traditional fairytale. The other stories felt clunky and akward to me.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were two stories I loved in this anthology and six that ranged from "ugh" to "eh." The author penned some of them when she was still in her teens. Although her age as a writer shows, what she was capable of at a young age impressed me (one of the stories I really enjoyed, Rafiddilee, was written when she was fourteen and never much revised).

These are all fantasy stories in some way related to water. Here are some that stood out to me in one way or another:

The Fall of Ys didn't really do anything for me. Maybe it's because I don't know the original legend off of which it was based, but it struck me as a very anti-man story (girl wants to go live with celibate priestesses across the sea rather than marry, which her father tries to prevent her from doing. Father is portrayed as a horrid woman-hater). After reading this story, I was cringing at the prospect of the rest of the book being more of the same. Mercifully, it wasn't.

Icerose seemed to me like a cheap knockoff of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe combined with The Snow Queen. Two children seek the Ice Witch in order to defeat her and revive the frozen ice rose, bringing summer to the land again.

Rafiddilee is a fantastic story. If the whole book had been like this, I would have given it at least four stars. An entertaining, mute, illiterate dwarf man named Rafiddilee becomes a queen's fool, and in the end the queen learns a lesson of the heart from him. Contains well-rounded characters and the only main male character in the whole book who isn't either a buffoon or a handsome, perfect hero. Two thumbs up.

The Frogskin Slippers was my other favorite story in the book. A delightful and original fairy tale that combines elements of The Frog Prince with The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The baron has died, and his daughter, Rose is the victim of a crazed, gambling mother (not a "step" in sight) who makes her work her fingers to the bone cleaning the castle. She saves a frog from her mother's cat, and discovers that he is actually Prince Rane (begin the swooning), a prince in an enchanted forest kingdom. Rane gives her the frogskin slippers (note: made of shed frogskin), enabling her to dance with him in his kingdom every night. They fall in love and he proposes to her, but if she doesn't respond by May Eve, he will not be able to come back for another year. And her mother has other nuptial plans for her.

All in all, a good collection of stories and a fun read, if a bit obvious that the author hasn't had great experiences with men and if she had, wouldn't want anything less than a prince on a white horse.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meredith's The Darkangel Trilogy is one of my favorite stories of all time. I've reread it more times than I can count. Curling up with this collection of stories was like catching up with an old friend, familiar and warm. My favorite two stories are Rafiddilee for its whimsy and characters (but yet a cautionary tale) as well as Rampion which is the most polished story in the book and a gripping tale of two sisters trapped in their situations (plus seafoxes!). You can really see the influence of fairytales and classic fantasy influencing her voice and writing style. Writing is a skill that is practiced and her magical ability to deftly weave plots and female protagonists in her enchantingly poetic prose was definitely built over the years, it was a pleasure to be transported on this journey of fables and fairytales with an old friend.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been in love with Pierce's writing for a long time - since I first discovered her Firebringer trilogy, still one of my all-time favorite works of fantasy. It doesn't much matter what she's writing about, she can make it seem sacred, archaic, familiar, and ethereal with nothing more than a slight chain of words. I'm glad I picked up this collection of short stories from her, because it's given me great insight into what drives her themes, and how she has developed as a writer over time. "Rafiddilee" was probably my favorite story out of the whole bunch, and she wrote it when she was only fourteen years old! Truly a destined mythmaker.

[Helen Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty title. A few pretty stories, some of which have pretty writing. "Rafiddilee" was rather clunky, as was "Icerose," and I am tired of fantasy books overrun by "strong female leads." "Rampion" was simply annoying; I didn't particularly like any of the characters, and the message of "stand up for yourself and don't be afraid to be who you are" was somehow not convincing. Nevertheless, I enjoyed "The Sea-Hag" and "The Frogskin Slippers," both of which worked as original fairy tales with more likeable characters.

[C.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of imagination, folk and fairy tale--tied together by Pierce's lulling voice. Her writing can be very much like water--and it, and the stories she tells in this collection, both calm as well as pique curiosity. The best stories do--they leave you wondering. And Pierce has the sense to hold onto the roots of a good story, of faerie and its laws, while waltzing wildly with detail and people and place.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pierce shines in this collection of her shorter stories. Her mythic sensibility and delicate use of language to portray the natural features of a magical world evoke both folkloric fairy tales and Ursula K. LeGuin, and her characterization is sensitive and memorable. This is a collection to read, re-read, and savor as stand-alone tales.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an excellent collection of fairy tales! I especially loved "The Frogskin Slippers," but all of these stories are brilliant. The author's prose is elegant; each tale is unique and beautiful. Wow!

[Emma White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short stories, all relating one way or another to the great natural force and element, water. The stories range from light and dreamy to dark and frightening, but all inspire and show the true value of writing such fiction.

[Duchess32 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This colelction of short stories had me enchanted throughout. The strange stories locked together to form a wonderful book.

[Kaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful collection of short stories! A few of my favourite ones were Rafiddilee, Rampion, and The Frogskin Slippers. I loved this book and i highly recomend it.

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were only a couple of stories that were really that interesting. Most of them elicited a mere 'eh.'

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierce can be relied on for thoughtful, somewhat dark fantasy. I liked "Rampion" the best.

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prelude: Night Voyage
The Fall of Ys
Where the Wild Geese Go
Icerose
Rafiddilee
The Sea-Hag
The Frogskin Slippers
Rampion

[scarlettraces · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5)

[Lucinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, I liked the the first story in it the best though.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories showing Pierce's evolution as a writer, all water-themed in some way. She gives them an appealingly old-fashioned, fairy-tale style.

[Jenna Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the many short stories in this book!